Munde supporters demand CBI probe, turn violent

New Delhi: Supporter of former Union Minister Gopinath Munde on Wednesday turned violent and set vehicles on fire soon after the mortal remains of the BJP leader were consigned to the flames in Parali-Vaijnath, his birthplace in Beed district.

The supporters were demanding the CBI probe into the death of the Maharashtra strongman as they suspect conspiracy in it.

The supporters also gheraoed Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan's car when he was heading to a helipad in Beed.

A sea of humanity has converged at his home town to pay last respects to the towering leader from the backward Marathwada region as her eldest daughter Pankaja lit the funeral pyre amid roars of "Gopinath Munde amar rahe" and "Munde Saheb parat ya (Munde Sir, come again)".

Several senior BJP leaders including Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, a close associate of Munde since his days as a student leader in Pune, party general secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, MNS boss Raj Thackeray, RPI's Ramdas Athavale and several state ministers and legislators attended his funeral.

Munde, who started his political career as a student leader, rose to become the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra in 1995 when the BJP-Shiv Sena came to power in the state for the first time. He was to lead the BJP’s campaign in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls.

He was also seen by many as a formidable contender for the Chief Minister's post in the event of the alliance forming its government after the assembly elections.

But fate willed otherwise and Munde died in a crash a week after being sworn-in as Union Minister but before he could take oath as an MP.